Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Success
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The situation got bigger than I thought.
I realized this the next day, after seeing the list of voice actors.
“...President.”
“...Yes.”
“We seriously undercut their rates, didn't we?”
Yang Gil-sang said.
I couldn’t agree more.
The voice actors Lee Su-chang brought were all top-tier, star-level talent in the industry.
Meaning, each and every one of them commanded a staggering fee.
My budget was based on, at best, hidden gems or voice actors with familiar voices, and the pay I offered was tailored to that level.
But the people he brought were far beyond that caliber, which put me in a very difficult position.
“What should we do?”
Yang Gil-sang's question was an important one.
It’s a given that in this industry, you need to maintain good relationships with people in related fields.
Especially for a new company like ours.
If word got out that we treated outside talent poorly, it would seriously damage our company’s image.
This was even more true thinking about the future.
These star voice actors on the list now—in just two or three years, they'll be industry giants, landing all the major roles in gaming.
If Rewind continues to aim for AAA titles, voice acting is an indispensable element.
If our relationship with them sours, sourcing voice talent will become incredibly difficult, won't it?
A cold sweat trickled down my back.
I said, feigning composure.
“...When are they scheduled to come in?”
“Next Thursday. For the prologue and Chapter 1 recording... and some other lines.”
“Please draw up new contracts. I'll negotiate the rates myself and raise them appropriately.”
I had to handle the rate negotiation properly.
That’s just good business.
A week passed like that.
We prepared for every contingency, and all those preparations turned out to be useless scraps of paper.
“It's fine! In fact, we're grateful! You've given us such a great opportunity!”
“Hello, Director! I really enjoyed Hellic 2!”
“?”
The voice actors didn't negotiate their fees.
They just offered their inexplicable thanks.
I was still puzzled.
“Director, shall we start recording right away?”
Lee Su-chang asked.
I nodded.
* * *
Rewind’s recording studio was small.
Compared to other dubbing companies or major game developers, at least. But it was just the right size for four people.
“Sir! It's an honor to work with you!”
The most talented of his juniors bowed a full ninety degrees.
He wouldn't listen no matter how many times I told him not to, which was rather awkward.
Su-chang waved his hands dismissively and said.
“That's enough. Raise your head. If I make a talent like you bow so low, people will call me an old geezer throwing his weight around.”
“Who in the world would...!”
“Save your voice. We're about to start recording.”
*Hah!* The junior sucked in a breath.
His gaze was almost overwhelmingly intense.
Su-chang gave an awkward smile and spoke to his other juniors as well.
“Let's do a good job today. Thanks for agreeing to my unreasonable request.”
They were all so much more talented than he was.
And yet, they were kind enough to always show him respect.
Su-chang caught himself starting to feel small again and pulled himself together.
*'I can't be like this.'*
He cleared his throat.
Even after his livelihood had become precarious, there was one thing he'd never neglected: taking care of his voice. Thankfully, it was in good working order today.
His condition felt no different than usual.
But something was definitely different.
Su-chang looked down at the script.
*'Clear your head, Su-chang.'*
There was something he had forgotten for too long.
The joy of using his voice.
He decided to focus on that.
Because there was someone who remembered him from a time when he had.
Su-chang's gaze shifted to Yeon-ho, beyond the soundproof glass.
Yeon-ho was looking back at him, standing next to a sound engineer in a green jersey.
It wasn't just Yeon-ho.
The young-looking sound engineer's eyes were sparkling too.
He remembered what had happened just before.
-C-Could you do that line...? 'I don't listen to anyone...!'
-I don't listen to anyone weaker than me.
-Gasp...!
The image of him clutching his heart and trembling was still vivid.
The thought that this staff member had also grown up watching his performances stirred a warmth in his chest.
He held onto that feeling.
He pressed it down, refined it, polished it, and placed it in a corner of his heart.
[W-We're rolling...!]
With the announcement, the screen on the monitor inside the recording booth came to life.
The prologue cinematic.
The character Su-chang was watching was the Barbarian.
In the ten days leading up to today, he'd read through the script dozens of times.
Just as Yeon-ho had said, the Barbarian had similarities to Black War Tyrannomon, a character he had played over a decade ago.
The way he moved forward through anguish.
And the way he refused to bow to anyone.
But the two roles were different.
The nature of their anguish was different, their lives were different, their paths were different, and even he, the actor portraying them, had changed.
Su-chang decided to humbly accept that.
So, in this moment, Black War Tyrannomon did not exist in his mind.
Only the nameless Barbarian.
Only the role.
[Rumble—!]
[Aaaaaaaah!!!]
Vibrations, explosions, and screams.
He'd heard the sound director collected these sounds himself.
The realistic resonance pulled Su-chang's thoughts deeper.
Su-chang was the type who achieved immersion through a deep sense of unity with his character.
For that reason, he saw the world through the eyes of the Barbarian who would be standing in the middle of that scene.
And so, he began to deduce the Barbarian's life.
*'You are...'*
A leader of a tribe.
Yet you always stand at the very front, with your warriors merely following behind.
*'You are ferocious.'*
The Barbarian shows no mercy to his enemies.
Because if he did, the tribe members behind him would suffer.
*'And you are brave.'*
Because if he weren't, his people would grow anxious.
*'You are compassionate.'*
He blocks the enemy's blades with his own body.
Because his pain can protect those behind him.
Survival and protection.
He understood the law of the jungle with his entire being.
That was why he was desperate, brave, and savage.
*'...No.'*
He acted like a man who had to be that way.
[Thud!]
A tribesman fell.
The Barbarian held him and looked up at the sky.
His expression was contorted.
In this endless war, having known only loss, what must have been on his mind?
His understanding of the emotion deepened.
Su-chang traced each and every torment the Barbarian must have felt in this hell.
*'Despair? Doubt? ...No, that's not it.'*
The Barbarian is, as his name suggests, barbaric.
He is true to his raw, primal instincts.
He is a leader. The head of the pack.
He would want to survive, and he would want his people to survive.
He would want to preserve his tribe.
The only thing that mattered to him was what was inside his fence.
But that fence was crumbling.
Due to an endless chain of wars, due to someone's machinations.
In that case,
*'...Rage.'*
He would be angry.
A searing rage that could burn him up from the inside.
*Click—*
A switch flipped in Su-chang's mind.
The wire connecting the character to Su-chang had been plugged in.
The scene began.
The voice actors started to deliver their lines.
“You there.”
The junior's voice, that of a soldier, was filled with despair.
His tone was heavy, yet his vocalization and diction were superb.
Su-chang paid it no mind.
The Barbarian would not have heard that voice.
He was thinking only of his turn.
And now was the time.
He took a sharp breath.
His back straightened.
His gaze fixed on the script, his expression twisting into a demonic grimace.
And so, the breath he drew in was laced with a tremor.
*'Rage.'*
How should he express it?
Su-chang coated his vocal cords with the answer he'd found through his long deliberation.
A rough resonance, scraped from his throat, rose to the very top of his larynx.
What he spat out was the culmination of his deliberation and immersion, the Barbarian's seething rage contained within a single phrase.
“...You there.”
The room fell silent.
Struck by the searing rage, the despair that made it seem as if he were alone in a different world.
A moment of silence, and then another voice joined in.
“...Heavens above.”
The sobbing voice of the Paladin.
“You monstrous being.”
The hate-filled voice of the Spartan.
Immediately after, their breathing synchronized.
Their measured breaths were as exquisite and natural as precisely interlocking clockwork, as the wind catching in the sails of a windmill.
The four of them exchanged glances.
It was unplanned, yet it felt as if it was exactly as it should be.
The scene was a whirlwind of raw emotion.
In other words, it had taken its most perfect form in that moment.
A voice actor.
A person who speaks for those born without a voice, who cries out their stories to the world.
They were the ones who finally imbued emotion into the images that existed only beyond the screen.
It was different from a stage actor, who uses their entire body to portray another person.
Because in what a voice actor portrays, there is no physical actor.
There was only the voice; everything else had to be erased to breathe life into the medium with nothing but their breath.
The pitch of their voice, the shift in pronunciation, the control of tremors and accents—the sentences crafted from these elements had to represent the stories of individuals more special than anyone else in the world.
The breaths of such people, laden with a profound malice, stretched out in unison.
““Why must I be cast into hell?””
In this moment, through the breath of these spokespeople, the four pilgrims finally began to receive the gift of life.
* * *
When the play ends, the stage goes dark.
The curtain falls, and only then do the actors break character.
It was no different for voice actors.
“You were amazing, sir!”
“That was incredible! I felt completely overwhelmed! I almost messed up my own line...!”
The junior voice actors, known as stars in their own right, spoke to Su-chang with undisguised admiration.
But Su-chang couldn't answer.
He was still in character.
*'How long has it been?'*
How long had it been since he'd been this immersed in a role?
After finishing the cinematic, he read the script for the prologue chapter.
Then, he recorded a few more lines and interaction voices.
But it didn't feel like he was 'reading.'
In that moment, Su-chang had become the voice of the Barbarian, losing control of himself.
He felt completely drained, his back already soaked with sweat.
He caught his breath and lifted his head.
Su-chang suddenly felt a knot in his chest begin to melt away.
Nothing had changed.
Su-chang was still a voice actor struggling to make ends meet, and this role was just one of many he had played.
And yet, he felt as if something had changed, and he soon realized it was a change of heart.
Su-chang encouraged his juniors and left the recording booth.
Yeon-ho, who had been waiting, spoke.
“That was incredible. You really were just being modest when you told me to find another voice actor.”
“R-Really...! Wow! Our staff could never make a voice like th—Ouch!”
Yeon-ho poked the girl in the side.
At that, Su-chang let out a soft chuckle.
“It's nothing. We still have a long way to go.”
“There's a saying that a good start is half the battle. You're already halfway there.”
There were six chapters left, and even Yeon-ho didn't know how many cinematics would be included. There would be many more lines needed.
Despite that, he was already this exhausted, and Su-chang felt a sense of depletion from intense focus for the first time in a long while.
But it wasn't unpleasant.
On the contrary, he felt fulfilled.
“P-President...!”
The girl tapped Yeon-ho's arm.
Yeon-ho patted the top of the girl's head and said.
“We'll be in touch as soon as the next schedule is set. Thank you.”
His calm words conveyed a sense of trust.
There was no excessive praise, but the fact that there were no criticisms to be made was a source of pride for a voice actor.
His emotions churned.
Su-chang finally let loose the warmth he had tucked away in his heart and added one more thing.
“You know those lines. The ones Black War Tyrannomon said.”
“Yes?”
“To be honest, I was never particularly fond of Black War Tyrannomon's lines. There was one I liked more.”
His words were a bit disjointed.
“In the end, Black War Tyrannomon asks Bugmon how he should live. And Bugmon replies.”
At that moment, Yeon-ho's eyes widened slightly.
Su-chang said.
“If you want to know the purpose of living, you have no choice but to live diligently.”
That was what he had finally remembered.
The wrinkles on Su-chang's face deepened into a smile.
“I have to live diligently. I need to earn a living, after all.”
He didn't elaborate further, as the deeper meaning felt a bit embarrassing to say out loud.
He had only meant to say that, thanks to him, an old, dusty passion had begun to shine again.
“I'll see you next time.”
Su-chang bowed deeply, then turned to the juniors who had followed him out.
“Let's go. I'll buy you all a meal.”
He no longer felt lethargic.
* * *
The game now had a voice.
To be more precise, *my* game had a voice for the *first time*.
And it was a voice I truly loved.
-You there.
I replayed the prologue over and over.
But rather than just basking in it, I analyzed it aesthetically.
*'It really is a perfect fit.'*
*Click, clack.* I moved the console controller connected to my computer.
It was a playthrough of the prologue chapter.
-I'll kill you!!!
Phase 3, which starts from the Barbarian's perspective.
The lines are really punchy.
Besides that, the character motions were smooth, and there were no noticeable bugs.
This part seems to be done, I thought.
*Dding!*
A text came from Yang Gil-sang.
[Urgent! You need to come see this!]
A method of delivering urgent news I was now used to.
I paused the game and went up to Yang Gil-sang's office.
Just then, *Clatter!* Yang Gil-sang exclaimed dramatically.
“President! This is huge!”
“Yes?”
“'Yes?' isn't the right answer! Have you forgotten? Today marks the first week of Hellic 2's console release!”
Ah, right.
“Has it been that long already?”
It was already late November.
The final model of the PS3, the Super Slim, had been released, and along with it, the console version of Hellic 2 hit the market.
To be honest, I hadn't been paying much attention, as I didn't have high expectations for the main sales figures.
After all, hadn't we already recorded more than meaningful sales numbers from pre-orders alone? Not to mention, the game was already out on PC.
There wasn't much of a pie left to draw customers from.
Yang Gil-sang was probably making such a fuss because the main sales were sluggish.
With that assumption, I tried to calm him down.
“The slump was expected. First, calm down...”
“It's not a slump!”
Yang Gil-sang grabbed my shoulders.
He shoved his face uncomfortably close, the corners of his mouth stretched nearly to his ears.
“It sold! It sold like crazy! We've hit the jackpot!”
My body froze.
“?”
What is he talking about?